While the game of cornhole (also referred to as corn toss, bean bag toss, bean toss, soft horseshoes, indiana horseshoes, Tailgate Toss®, etc.) has been around since at least the 1950s, its popularity began to significantly increase in the late 1990s. Cornhole is played by throwing cornhole bags or bean bags (bags filled with PVC pellets, feed corn, etc.) at an angled platform having a target hole disposed in the platform. The platforms are usually made from plywood or plastic.
In general, the game of cornhole is played by two or more players divided into two teams. Cornhole matches are broken down into innings or frames of play. During each inning, one player from each team throws four bags. In order to score, the bags must either be tossed into the hole or land on the platform. A bag that falls through the hole is worth a value of three points. The bag can be tossed directly into the target hole, slide into the hole, or be knocked into the hole by another bag. A bag that lands on the platform and is still on the platform at the end of the inning is worth one point. Usually, cancellation scoring is used. In cancellation scoring, bags that fall in the hole and bags that land on the board that are pitched by opponents during a frame cancel each other out. In other words, if one player scores four points and the other player scores three points, the first player's team receives one point for the inning. Play continues until a team reaches the score of 21.
While the game of cornhole has significantly grown in popularity, the game is generally always played the same way. Accordingly, it is likely a fad that will be replaced in time by the newest and latest trend unless popular variations of the game can be developed that incorporate the tossing aspect of the game with new features and characteristics. For example, the game of cornhole is associated with sports as it is often played during tailgates at sporting events. However, cornhole does not represent in any way the sporting events such as football, baseball, and basketball games that people are attending. If people were tailgating for a football game, they would prefer to play a game that at least somewhat resembles actual football. Additionally, cornhole is often played by competitive people that are often interested in sports such as football, basketball, golf, baseball, etc. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a game that incorporates the tossing aspect of cornhole with additional features that simulate other sports.
One characteristic of cornhole that undoubtedly influences the game's rising popularity is that cornhole is generally a game of skill that one can develop a greater expertise in through playing more frequently and/or having greater natural abilities. However, while the game is simple enough that anyone can play, those that are not as skilled at the game may get tired of it as they continually get beat by better cornhole players and/or the better players may get tired of the game because they do not have much competition. On the other hand, games that combine an element of luck with a certain amount of skill, such as poker, are often quite popular because they tend to level the playing field between highly skilled players and those that are not quite as skilled. Thus, although one player may be more skilled than their opponent in a particular game so that they win against that opponent more than they will lose over the long run, a game that also includes an element of luck gives the player of lesser skill the ability to still beat a higher skilled player. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a game that incorporates the tossing aspect of cornhole with the features of a card game that involves a certain amount of luck.